"They barely know each other, Māori and Pakeha, traumatized veterans and wide-eyed new recruits, thrown together from all corners of New Zealand, a country so young it barely conceives of itself as a nation. But they've arrived in a war like no other: the Great War, a maelstrom of fire, poison gas, artillery, and newly created weapons like aircraft and tanks. They're armed only with their picks and shovels. They are the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion, they're going to dig their way into history, yard by yard" --Publisher's information